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What's On In Goa:
* Oct 11: Konkani translation of Satre book, Alliance Francaise
Oct 11: Friday Balcao, Mapusa. Mental health, suicides 4pm
* Oct 12: History Reading (Farar Far by Dr Pratima Kamat, Fundacao 5pm
* Oct 12: Goa Orchestra performs at the Kala (Corelli, Bach)
* Oct 15: Magic in town... Illusion India show, Panjim then Vasco
* Oct 20: Ornithology workshop, Bondla southernbirdwing.com
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India Today October 14 issue (www.indiatoday.com) has an article on
Indians living abroad, which says, among other things....
"India abroad means a 20-million, $400-billion strong
community that is getting richer and more powerful.
It can help transform India...."
But, it also quotes noted writer of Indian origin and Nobel Prize-winning
author Sir Vidiadhar Naipaul saying about migrants, "After two or three
generations, traditions cannot be maintained. They will strictly not be
Indian people... As migrants generatlly adapt there is really no idea left
of India, no profound idea of India, beyond some sentimental attachment."
[Incidentally, the Goan community, which has long been into migration,
perhaps more than people from most other Indian states, has been
criticised in the past for getting 'denationalised'. Now, the same is
something other people of Indian origin are themselves admitting.]
In terms of listing some options, India Today suggests:
* Giving PIOs (persons of Indian origin, non-passport holders) and NRIs
(non-resident Indians, basically passport holders) a voice in
India. "Nominate five of them to the Rajya Sabha (upper house of
parliament). This will add value and opinion without skewing the electoral
system."
* Establishing a department or ministry exclusively to PIO-NRI
affairs. (Wonder what happened to Goa's attempt...)
* Hassle-free travel helps. What helps equally is visa-free travel.
* PIOs and NRIs should be given complete freedom to invest in any industry
and freely repatriate profits.
* PIOs outside South Asia should be freely offered dual citizenship. The
ambit of dual citizenship should be extended beyond North America and
Europe.
It says: "Where government has failed, overseas Indian money has stepped
in, transforming numerous villages in Gujarat, Punjab and Kerala into
places where sanitation, safe drinking water, primary education, health
care and electricity are no longer an issue."
Goa missed the list. Perhaps indicates the low-visibility of non-residents
from here, or the inability/unwillingness to highlight their contribution
in local quarters. After all, Goa had a higher economic set of indicators
even at the fag end of colonial rule -- compared to neighbouring and other
areas in India. These were times when tourism was not even thought off,
and mining was barely a decade or less old... and the bloated bureaucracy
was not a reality. But migration's economic impact has not been adequately
studied or acknowledged. -FN
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